Cedars-Sinai patient receives new heart, liver and kidney in 20-hour transplant surgery
LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- A father is getting back to doing what he loves after undergoing a rare triple-organ transplant at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.
Valance Sams Sr. underwent the 20-hours surgery for a new heart, liver and kidney this past spring, according to the hospital.
"I'm feeling good, great, awesome," he said. "It's night and day."
With the successful operation, Sams became one of just 46 people in the U.S. to receive a heart, liver and kidney transplant since 1987.
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"Since then, the average has been only about 1.5 of these surgeries per year in the U.S., more frequently within the last five years as providers and surgeons get more comfortable with the operations and technology," said Dr. Tyler Gunn, Sams' heart surgeon.
Ten years ago, Sams, a single father, was diagnosed with sarcoidosis, a rare inflammatory disease that caused a buildup of scar tissue on his heart and left him unable to work, exercise or even walk.
Now, Sams walks side by side with his adult son, Valance "Vee" Sams Jr. He's exercising again, eating healthy, and focused on rebuilding his strength.
"I was basically his personal nurse," said Sams Jr., who was a teenager when he took on that role. "I made sure everything was OK, he wasn't missing appointments. I made sure his medicines (were) OK, you know, changing his bags for dialysis at the house."
In an interview conducted by Cedars-Sinai and shared with the news media, Sams Sr. became emotional when talking about how much of a help his son was.
"Since the beginning, he's been like my nurse, my best friend, my brother," the father said.
